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Sunday, November 04, 2007

About Food Source and Storage in Dinagat

In Libjo just a few years back before electricity and before our first Kerosine refrigerator came, storing and preserving food is done a bit different. Those days ice is so pricy and source is far as 4 to 5 hours away in Surigao city. So we then rely on food's traditional preparation and preservation. You know Binoyad, ginamos, tapa, pinahilisan right? We either dry the food, preserve it in salt, hang it smoked or cook it. Drying squid in the sun is unmistakable. Smell is all over the place we can hardly sleep during the night specially if our house is next to it.

System like this seldom happen in urban areas where everything is being bought from the supermarket frozen, fresh on ice or in cans and bags. In Dinagat Island We live next to the ocean our source of food is just next door. We have nothing for lunch then we go fishing. Manginhas look for dayo-dayo kasag, libu-o, clams, sa-ang, suwaki, tajum, lato and more. We have Malonggay, kalamonggay (whatever it's called) in our backyard. Tanglad, sili as long as we have rice, meal is already complete. We can also raise chickens, pigs and ducks in our yard with no restriction. I call it On-demand. It is right there fresh when you need it. These type of things we are always looking for if we migrate to other places. If we can still do it then we feel we're really home.

I remember one time when we went mountain climbing. Some of our older colleague is bringing live chickens in a bag. I asked them "what for?" "This is food. This is good if we have it fresh, right." they said. So then there's no need for storing or preserving.

Funny but I hear this most of the time. "Tay, mangaon na ta?". "Kadali kay mamingwit sa ko". (english: "Dad, are we going to eat?" "Wait I still gonna go catch some fish")